Corrigan’s late touchdown propels Great Valley
ASTON >> Before the season began, first-year Great Valley head coach Jeff Martin admitted that his team would not be deep enough to lose players because of injuries.
After a pair of losses to Ches-Mont opponents following a nonleague win over Phoenixville to open the season, Martin had plenty to worry about this week as the Patriots prepared for a trip Dr. Wally Field to take on winless Sun Valley.
“We had nine people injured,” Martin said. “We were moving people around and we even had a couple of seniors who were making their first varsity start. But the guys just dug deep out there, and it’s always nice to have a Ches-Mont League win.”
Great Valley led at halftime, fell behind on Sun Valley’s first possession of the second half, then put together an 11-play, 61-yard drive – all on the ground – for the touchdown that enabled the Patriots to come away with a 15-12 victory Friday night.
Sun Valley had a pair of chances to reclaim the lead in the fourth quarter, but penalties put a stop to one drive, and an interception by GV’s Ryan Banavitch inside the Patriots’ 15 with 1:17 to play came on the Vanguards’ last snap of the game.
“The effort was there,” Sun Valley coach Greg “Bubba” Bernhardt said. “But we killed ourselves with those penalties in the second half – five 15-yarders. You can’t have first-and-30 or something like we had on that one play. We’re not good enough to make mistakes like that, especially when we still could have had the chance to win.”
Great Valley (2-2, 1-2) drove 75 yards for its first touchdown, with sophomore quarterback Andy Talone completing three passes before junior Storm Johnson took a handoff, drew the defense in on what looked to be a running play, and lofted the ball to Banavitch, who finished off a 47-yard play for six points nine seconds before the first quarter came to an end.
Talone picked up a bad snap on what was supposed to be the conversion kick and ran for two points.
Andrew Kmett’s interception 6:10 before halftime helped Sun Valley (0-4. 0-3) to its first score. Tyler McLaughlin’s 22-yard run put the ball at the Great Valley three-yard line, and three plays later quarterback Johnny Eskridge bulled into the end zone. A high snap foiled the extra-point attempt, setting the halftime score at 8-6.
A short punt on Great Valley’s first possession in the second half set Sun Valley up 48 yards from the go-ahead touchdown, which came when Kevin Mayoros turned left end and wasn’t stopped until he crossed the goal line, which was 21 yards away.
Less than five minutes later, Great Valley had completed its drive for what turned out to be the winning touchdown. Two Talone runs got the Patriots close, and Michael Corrigan covered the final five yards with 1:39 left in the third quarter.
“It might have been an ugly win, and we know we have things to improve on,” Talone said, realizing that Downingtown East and West Chester East are the next two opponents on the schedule. “But it’s great to get a win in the Ches-Mont League.
“Our offensive line did a great job, and our running backs came through tonight. We knew we wanted to run the ball more, and we got a good push from our line. It was great doing all that with so many people injured.”
